RAC Rally 1985
Round 12 of the 1985 World Rally Championship · 24–28 November 1985
Henri Toivonen and Neil Wilson won the RAC Rally on the debut of the Lancia Delta S4, with Alén second — and Tony Pond third on the debut of the MG Metro 6R4.
Episode 6 — Lancia Delta S4 & Henri Toivonen
The RAC Rally 1985 features in this episode of our documentary series.
At a glance
The podium
Photo: MrWalkr via Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0Photo: MrWalkr via Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0
Photo: SG2012 via Wikimedia Commons, CC BY 2.0Car photos are representative pictures of the model, not of this event.
Route and surface
Forest gravel in England, Wales and Scotland, plus spectator stages.
Key entries
The leading seeded crews (start numbers 1–8):
- #1 Timo Salonen / Seppo Harjanne — Peugeot 205 Turbo 16 E2 (Peugeot Talbot Sport)
- #2 Hannu Mikkola / Arne Hertz — Audi Sport Quattro S1 (Audi Sport)
- #3 Markku Alén / Ilkka Kivimäki — Lancia Delta S4 (Martini Racing)
- #4 Walter Röhrl / Phil Short — Audi Sport Quattro S1 (Audi Sport)
- #5 Juha Kankkunen / Fred Gallagher — Toyota Celica Twin-Cam Turbo (Toyota Team Europe)
- #6 Henri Toivonen / Neil Wilson — Lancia Delta S4 (Martini Racing)
- #7 Björn Waldegård / Hans Thorszelius — Toyota Celica Twin-Cam Turbo (Toyota Team Europe)
- #8 Per Eklund / Björn Cederberg — Audi Quattro A2 (Team Clarion Car Stereo)
Henri Toivonen and Neil Wilson won the RAC Rally on the debut of the Lancia Delta S4, with Alén second — and Tony Pond third on the debut of the MG Metro 6R4.
How the rally unfolded
Alén led most of the rally, apart from a seven-stage spell for Mikkola, and won 26 stages. But Toivonen overtook him on stage 54 and won by 56 seconds. Pond’s third place in the 6R4 was a remarkable debut for the British car.
Peugeot and Audi both had a bad rally. Salonen’s engine failed, Mikkola’s S1 had electronic failure, and Röhrl crashed. Kalle Grundel crashed the second 205, and Malcolm Wilson’s 6R4 failed. Per Eklund was the best Audi driver in fourth.
The decisive moment
Toivonen took the lead on stage 54 of 65. The Delta S4 had won on its first start — and Lancia went into 1986 as Peugeot’s main rival.
Result — top 10
| Pos. | No. | Crew | Car | Entrant | Gp. | Time / gap |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 6 | Henri Toivonen / Neil Wilson | Lancia Delta S4 | Martini Racing | B | 9:32:05 |
| 2 | 3 | Markku Alén / Ilkka Kivimäki | Lancia Delta S4 | Martini Racing | B | +0:56 |
| 3 | 10 | Tony Pond / Rob Arthur | MG Metro 6R4 | Computervision Rallying with Mobil | B | +2:27 |
| 4 | 8 | Per Eklund / Björn Cederberg | Audi Quattro A2 | Team Clarion Car Stereo | B | +26:30 |
| 5 | 5 | Juha Kankkunen / Fred Gallagher | Toyota Celica Twin-Cam Turbo | Toyota Team Europe | B | +38:48 |
| 6 | 14 | Jimmy McRae / Ian Grindrod | Opel Manta 400 | Opel Euro Team | B | +43:56 |
| 7 | 17 | Terry Kaby / Kevin Gormley | Nissan 240RS | Team Nissan Europe | B | +52:03 |
| 8 | 11 | Russell Brookes / Mike Broad | Opel Manta 400 | Opel Euro Team / Andrews Heat for Hire | B | +53:45 |
| 9 | 25 | Rod Millen / Brian Rainbow | Mazda RX-7 | Mazda Rallye Team Europe | B | +57:34 |
| 10 | 9 | Ingvar Carlsson / Benny Melander | Mazda RX-7 | Mazda Rallye Team Europe | B | +57:52 |
Retirements of note
- #1 Timo Salonen / Seppo Harjanne (Peugeot 205 Turbo 16 E2) — engine, stage 21
- #2 Hannu Mikkola / Arne Hertz (Audi Sport Quattro S1) — electronics, stage 22
- #4 Walter Röhrl / Phil Short (Audi Sport Quattro S1) — accident, stage 15
- #7 Björn Waldegård / Hans Thorszelius (Toyota Celica Twin-Cam Turbo) — accident, stage 16
- #12 Kalle Grundel / Terry Harryman (Peugeot 205 Turbo 16 E2) — accident, stage 20
- #13 Malcolm Wilson / Nigel Harris (MG Metro 6R4) — engine, stage 23
The RAC Rally base given here is inferred from the start and finish locations in the itinerary; the event visited several regions of Great Britain.
Results, retirements, stage wins and leaders are taken from Jonkka’s World Rally Archive. Names are given with their correct spelling; the archive itself omits diacritics.
Related pages
- 1985 season overview
- All 1985 rallies
- Previous round: Ivory Coast Rally 1985
- Cars: Lancia Delta S4, MG Metro 6R4
- Teams: Lancia Martini, Austin Rover
- Iconic moments · Timeline · Statistics
All rounds of 1985
In pictures 4 photos
Photos from this event where free-licensed pictures exist; otherwise the podium cars, photographed on the occasion stated in each caption.
Further resources
- Motor Sport (January 1986): Rally review EN · article · subscription
Contemporary report from Motor Sport magazine's January 1986 issue, written as the season unfolded. - WRC.com season archive 1985 EN · archive
Official summary of the 1985 season: calendar, winners and both championship tables. - Motor Sport: Tony Pond, the man who put the Metro 6R4 on a WRC podium EN · article · subscription
Profile of Tony Pond and his third place on the 1985 RAC Rally. - Wikipedia: RAC Rally EN · archive
History of the RAC Rally with its list of winners over the decades.
The same rally in other Group B years
Sources
- Jonkka's World Rally Archive (juwra.com), RAC Rally 1985: event page — https://www.juwra.com/rac_rally_1985.html
- Jonkka's World Rally Archive, results — https://www.juwra.com/rac_rally_1985_results.html
- Jonkka's World Rally Archive, entry list — https://www.juwra.com/rac_rally_1985_entries.html
- Jonkka's World Rally Archive, stage winners and leaders — https://www.juwra.com/rac_rally_1985_stage_winners.html
- Wikipedia (EN), 1985 World Rally Championship — https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1985_World_Rally_Championship
All text is original writing for Grouve Sports Management Group, based on the sources above. Facts checked on 21 October 2026.
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